There’s nothing like a reset weekend in an award winning cottage surrounded by Cornish countryside you perk you up. Let me tell you why Tom’s Cottage, near Port Isaac, should be your next escape.
Tom’s Cottage is down a short track road, a few miles from Port Isaac, surrounded by fields and a handful of farm houses. Just one of Classic Cottages high quality holiday homes, it’s quintessentially Cornish, giving off strong “The Holiday” vibes which is always welcome.
Stepping inside, it was easy to see how it has so many accolades to its name. Tom’s Cottage secured it’s most recent award, winning gold at the 2024/25 Cornwall Tourism Awards.
Myself and my sister, Lisa, had a weekend stay in this beautiful traditional cottage, decorated and designed with every comfort in mind.
Let me show you around.
About Tom’s Cottage, near Port Isaac
There’s plenty of room at Tom’s Cottage. The rooms are large and spacious but this doesn’t distract from the cosy, homely feel that greeted us as soon as we stepped inside. It has everything you need for a serene getaway. The living room offers comfy sofas with throws and cushions, we would’ve been happy to spend all weekend relaxing here! Myself and my sister couldn’t wait to pop our pjs on, sit by the crackling fire and lounge.
There’s a beautiful, large dining room – the light seeping through the windows in the morning is simply stunning. Tom’s Cottage also has a good sized kitchen with another, smaller dining table. Also downstairs is a snug (how cool is that) where we found books to browse and board games and a wet room. It’s quite a good spot if you stayed at Tom’s Cottage and had a bit of work to do, or wanted some information on the local area for your Cornish break.
Many of the rooms, upstairs and down, have window seats too. Such perfect place to sip my morning coffee or get lost in my book. Tom’s Cottage certainly romanticises countryside living and I’m totally fine with that.
Tom’s Cottage sleeps up to 8 people. Me and Lisa, had a king size room each. They had amazing beds and the plumpest pillows ever – very Princess and the Pea! Each room had enough furniture and storage to house our clothes and items if we were staying a week or so. Aside from the 2 large rooms, there’s a twin room and a slightly smaller, single room. Even the smallest bedroom was a generous size; they don’t make them like this anymore!
On the doorstep at Tom’s Cottage
We arrived at Tom’s Cottage on Friday evening and settled in for the night. My sister cooked dinner in the kitchen which is well equipped and we relaxed afterwards in the living room. As it was the end of a hard working week for us both, we opted for an early night as we had lots we wanted to do the next day.
We woke after a comfortable and restful sleep, treating ourselves to a lazy hour or 2 in bed, sipping cups of tea. It was exciting planning the day ahead as it was a beautiful winters day, with wall to wall sunshine to look forward to.
Tom’s Cottage is in an ideal location for exploring Cornwall’s north coast; there’s plenty nearby to discover. First of all, we agreed to a morning run, heading from the cottage towards Port Gaverne (pronounced Gay-verne). We didn’t quite make it down to the hamlet but I can tell you it’s a sweet, pretty cove.
Our plan for the rest of the day was to enjoy a quality pub lunch followed by a stroll around Port Isaac. For food, we decided to drive to the lovely St Kew Inn, only about a 10 minute drive from Tom’s Cottage. There will be a separate post of this gem of a traditional pub which serves good quality, hearty food in beautifully traditional surroundings. We skipped brekkie due to our run and were ravenous. We shared a burger and chips, and a mains of mussels. It was tasty and much needed.
We considered other local pubs including The Golden Lion in Port Isaac and The Cornish Arms – both worth checking out.
An afternoon stroll in Port Isaac
From St Kew Inn we headed to Port Isaac. A place, I’m sure that needs little introduction but if you’re unfamilar, it’s famous for being the location for ITV’s Doc Martin and is home to the wonderful Fisherman’s Friends. Nathan Outlaw’s New Road restaurant, and his Fish Kitchen are also here.
I’m very fond of Port Isaac. I love how traditionally Cornish it is with lots of narrow alleys and cut throughs between the stacked houses. There’s so many Cornish villages like this – I never seem to walk the same way around Port Isaac twice.
As we stayed at Tom’s Cottage in winter, Port Isaac was lovely and quiet. I was expecting many shops to be closed but I was wrong! We enjoyed browsing in Port Isaac Trading where I resisted buying one of everything. We pottered around the harbour, it was almost high tide and decided to have a warming hot chocolate in The Mote, a light and spacious harbourside seafood restaurant.
Walking around Port Isaac, we made our way to the south west coast path. It gives a fab view of the village. We explored little walkways and followed our feet along any path we decided to take. There are some interesting houses in Port Isaac and we naturally found ourselves walking back to the car, this time taking the coastal route.
More places to visit and things to do during your stay at Tom’s Cottage:
This circular walk from Port Isaac – be warned, it’s a tad hilly!
Take a short drive to Trevose Head. This whole stretch of coast path is absolutely wonderful. There’s literally one stunning beach after another.
Both Padstow and Warebridge are nearby. Both are worth a visit and of course, there is the wonderful Camel Trail which joins the two towns together. It’s perfect for biking, walking or running.
Back at the cottage
After filling our lungs with plenty of sea air, we were ready to chill once more at Tom’s Cottage. We lit the fire, cracked open a bottle champagne and loaded some scones with jam and cream. Delicious! We were warm, cosy and relaxed.
A stay at Tom’s Cottage came at exactly the right time. After another dreamy slumber we reluctantly left after an idyllic weekend stay.
We were invited to stay at Tom’s Cottage in exchange for content. All views are my and own and I’d highly recommend it. We had a wonderfully restful time.
You can browse Classic Cottages Cornwall holiday cottages here.
